75 Word Reply To Discussion

Discussion #1 Sharon

I believe the impact of Matt’s addiction was devastating to him.  I don’t believe he knew another way to handle disappointment, in fact, I’m not even convinced that his drinking and drug use was a conscious decision. He was dealt a terrible blow when his daughter died from SIDS. It is possible, that because of how he behaved during his youth, the partying and drinking, that when he was devastated or suffered disappointment, that he unconsciously fell back on an activity that perhaps had produced pleasure and enjoyment at one time in his life. The mind is such a complex entity, it will use almost any stratagem to protect itself. I believe he was a tortured soul. He wanted to be the person his family deserved but had not found a way to accomplish it.

In my opinion, he had never learned another way to deal with the stresses and disappointment in his life. I am sure the rehab programs he attended used counseling as part of their package, but for some reason, nothing had replaced Matt’s, devastatingly ingrained, reactions to stress. He continued to put himself into rehab units to try and curb his addition knowing full well the impact it was having on those he loved. He missed his family and returned home for Christmas. Then unfortunately, he would fall into his old pattern when disappointment presented itself again. Rehab again, and he would then return to work as soon as he could after sobering, attempting to put his life back together, and would succeed until work slowed again. It was a terrible cycle that devastated those who loved him and those he loved. The letter received by his wife, after his death, would appear to validate my opinions and point of view.

I believe those most impacted by this tragedy where those who knew and loved him. Everyone will suffer his loss to some degree. Even society will miss out on the possible benefits to his existence and contributions therein. Those closest to him will wonder what else they could have done, where they fell short, and why this happened to him/them. Those left behind will most likely never know total peace. For Matt, I don’t believe there was another choice other than to be who he was (Henslin, 2013).

As is evident in our reading, successful or unsuccessful, is dependent on what “my” position on the dilemma may be. If I happen to belong to “la familia,” success will be measured in the number of politicians and others in authority I hold personal sway over for the successful distribution of my product. My goal is to conduct my business with the least amount of resistance possible. I would have no problem eliminating those who interfered with me, and arranging gruesome displays to demonstrate my dedication to success.

That said, an important first step would be to correctly classify all drugs and have a clear and realistic strategy for their uses, distribution, and consequential abuse probabilities. Drugs need to be classified according to their own attributes and merits, not the purchased whims of those who are in power, wield the largest percentages of votes, or are backed by the largest purses. Nor on the fabricated references to-dirty Mexicans, Chinese, and Russians. It is always so easily blamed on others, throughout history we see this to be true.

Programs need to be initiated and followed through with as designed. For example the methadone program may have substituted a legal drug for an illegal drug, but without the originally proposed follow up of counselling, job help, and introduction into different systems, it is as stated in our text, only a skeleton of the original plan and of little value.  Another important step would be to end criminalization of the users and provide them with mandatory inpatient medical/psychological care, rather than internment in a criminal facility where such help is not available. Programs need to meet the needs of specific groups and more to the point, meet the needs of the individual user. Granted, some characteristics are common among users, however, each individual has their own unique set of circumstances. I don’t believe a one size fits all approach or attitude will suffice to help us as HS workers, if we wish to make any changes in the drug addiction spectrum. I believe that we need to advocate for changes to an existing failing system. I don’t happen to know how to accomplish that, but it does spark an interest in me. Advocating for those with addictions when given the opportunity to do so would seem to be a good place to start (Henslin, 2013).

 

Henslin, James M. Social Problems: A Down-To-Earth Approach, Vitalsource for Kaplan University, 10th Edition. Pearson Learning Solutions, 2013. VitalBook file.